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California

Salvage yard software for California yards. Every pulled part starts from its vehicle record.

A California dismantler works under a DMV license, waits ten days after its notice of acquisition before dismantling, and keeps a record of every vehicle for the current year plus three. YardTerminal files nothing with the DMV. It lists your parts on eBay Motors and Shopify from one record, and keeps each part you pull tied to its donor VIN and its shelf.

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California: the Automobile Dismantler license, issued by the California DMV, Occupational Licensing.

California · the license

Automobile Dismantler

California DMV, Occupational Licensing

Law
Vehicle Code §220, §11500
Notice of acquisition
Within 5 days
Before dismantling
Wait 10 days
Vehicle records kept
Current year plus 3
On every advertisement
Your license number
Exempt
Up to 3 personal vehicles a year

Researched · sources below

The rules that touch your inventory. Six of them, paraphrased, each linked to its source.

Paraphrased for reading, linked to the source for relying on. This is context for choosing software, not legal advice.

  1. A license and a place of business

    Vehicle Code §220, §11500(opens the source in a new tab)

    Buying vehicles to dismantle them, or dealing in used motor vehicle parts, takes a DMV Automobile Dismantler license and an established place of business. Owners dismantling up to three personal vehicles in 12 months are exempt.

  2. Notice within five days, then wait ten

    Vehicle Code §11520(opens the source in a new tab)

    Mail a notice of acquisition to the DMV, with a copy to the Department of Justice, within five calendar days of acquiring a vehicle, and do not begin dismantling until ten calendar days after mailing it.

  3. A record of every vehicle, current year plus three

    Vehicle Code §11520(a)(5); Handbook §1.070(opens the source in a new tab)

    Who you acquired it from and when, the license plate last assigned to it, and its make, type and VIN, kept for the current year plus the three before it and separate from any dealer records.

  4. Your license number on every advertisement

    DMV, Dismantler License(opens the source in a new tab)

    A licensed dismantler cannot advertise its services without showing its occupational license or permit number in the advertisement.

  5. Catalytic converters come from listed sources

    Vehicle Code §10852.5, §220(b); B&P §21610(opens the source in a new tab)

    A used converter may be bought only from listed sources, and a licensed dismantler is one; the core recycler buying it records the year, make and model of the vehicle it came from. Holding nine or more cut converters makes a person a dismantler, unless they are a licensed junk dealer, recycler or core recycler.

  6. No deployed or counterfeit airbags

    Vehicle Code §27317(opens the source in a new tab)

    Selling or installing a counterfeit or nonfunctional airbag is a misdemeanor, and nonfunctional includes a unit that was previously deployed.

Where it helps. And where the paperwork stays yours.

Where it helps

  • Every part you pull from a donor starts from that vehicle’s record: VIN, year, make and model
  • A converter you pull carries the year, make and model of the car it came off, which is what the core recycler buying it records
  • Each part has a location down to the bin, so an inspection of the inventory is a search, not a walk
  • One count across its counter, eBay and your storefront, so a part is never sold twice

What it does not do

  • It files nothing with the DMV or NMVTIS and does not send notices of acquisition
  • It does not track the ten-day wait. Clear it the way you do today, then pull
  • It does not put your license number on listings by itself. Add it to the draft before you approve
  • A part bought in or aftermarket has no donor VIN to trace, and a donor link lasts only as long as the vehicle record is kept
  • A sold part’s history is kept 90 days after the sale, long enough for eBay returns. That is not your state’s retention period. Export what the law asks you to keep longer

It is the same product in every state, and the limits are the same everywhere. Read everything it does not do

What a California yard asks.

No. It files nothing with the DMV or the Department of Justice. The notice, the ten-day wait and the ownership documents stay with whatever you use today. YardTerminal starts at the parts you list once a vehicle is cleared to dismantle.

No. Each part you pull keeps its donor VIN, but a sold part’s history is kept 90 days after the sale. Your vehicle records under §11520 stay where you keep them now, and anything from YardTerminal you want alongside them can be exported.

Your listing is yours to word, and the agent’s draft is only a draft: add what your license requires before you approve it. Whether a given listing counts as an advertisement is a question for the DMV, not for us.

Sources

Researched from the California codes on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, none amended since 2024, and the DMV’s own license and handbook pages. Laws change, and the linked text is the authority, not this page.

Also on this site

Stop typing the same listing three times. One email when it opens. Nothing else, ever.

Used parts run on YardTerminal.